O.J. Simpson claims he had no idea that anyone was going to pull a gun when he went to take back what he says was stolen property from two sports memorabilia dealers in Las Vegas last year.
One of the guys who carried a gun begs to differ.
Simpson's presumably former golfing buddy, Walter Alexander, one of four men accused of committing armed robbery with Simpson who has pleaded down to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony, said in court Wednesday that it was totally the infamous football star's idea to bring guns to the Sept. 13, 2007, meeting—and that Simpson encouraged them afterward to forget about the guns.
"Just say there was no guns, man, and this ain't [nothing]. It'll blow right over," Simpson said, according to Alexander. "He was saying it to everybody that was involved: 'Just remember—no guns.' "
As he, Simpson, Mike McClintock, Clarence Stewart, Charles Ehrlich and Charles Cashmore approached Room 1203 of the Palace Station Hotel & Casino, "O.J. told [McClintock] to take the gun out and put it in his hand," Alexander said.
He testified that, in a meeting before the raid, Simpson had said, "I need somebody to watch my back…Do you think you can get some heat?...I doubt you will ever need 'em, you just want to be protected. Put 'em in your waistband and have your jackets open so they could see when you walk in."
At the meeting, McClintock toted a 9 mm handgun and gave Alexander a .22-caliber automatic.
Alexander, who pleaded guilty last October to a felony count of conspiracy to commit robbery, said that he felt that his pal Simpson may have thought the whole incident was funny, joking to people, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas—unless you're O.J. Simpson."
"I would hate to see O.J. go to jail," Alexander said. "But at the same time, I truly believe it was a robbery."
Defense attorney Yale Galanter charged that Alexander was mad at Simpson because the erstwhile murder suspect had refused to pay for his father's funeral, and that he offered to keep his mouth shut for the right price.
"I wasn't pissed at him. I was disappointed," Alexander said. "There's a difference…I was not calling, asking him to buy my testimony like he keeps saying."
"We [he and the others who cut a deal] realized he was going to throw us under the bus and the only way to defend himself was to blame it on us."
Simpson and Stewart remain charged with a dozen counts each of armed robbery, assault with a weapon, burglary, kidnapping, conspiracy and coercion.
Earlier in the day, Cook County Judge Jackie Glass ruled that attorney David Cook, who represents the family of murder victim Ron Goldman, could not testify for the prosecution, which has argued that Simpson has hid memorabilia and other income sources from the Goldmans to avoid paying the $33.5 million wrongful death judgment they were awarded in 1997.
"The prejudice far outweighs the probative value," Glass said. "We are here to deal with this case—Sept. 13, 2007."